January is the month when self-discipline rears its head as people, shamed by Christmas excesses and prompted by the media, decide to ‘start afresh.’ Membership of gyms and attendance at slimming clubs soar in this month, as people decide to be pro-active with exercise and losing weight.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with being pro-active in these matters. Be Well Barnsley is running weight loss groups in the Dearne area (see www.bewell-barnsley.com or telephone 0800 016 9133 for further details); Slimming World meets in our community hall at 9 a.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursdays; there is a Keep Fit group for the older generation at our community hall on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and BPL offers exercise classes at Dearneside Leisure Centre. If you want to keep fit or lose weight, there’s a wide variety of ways to help you that are readily available on our doorstep!
What matters more than New Year’s resolutions, however, is the self-discipline to stick at these. We need the same kind of self-discipline in February, March and the rest of the year as we do in January, and it’s this kind of self-discipline which Paul discusses in 1 Cor 9:23-27. He reminds the Corinthians, using metaphors from running and boxing, of the need for self-discipline, determination, persistence and perseverance. Runners in the Isthmian Games (which featured regularly in Corinth, just as the Olympic Games were held in Athens) did not run aimlessly; they were focussed on winning (the prize being a garland or crown made of pine cones or dried celery!) Paul reminds us that ‘they do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.’ (1 Cor 9:25) Crowns are mentioned in several places in the New Testament (see James 1:12, Rev 2:10, 1 Pet 5:4, 2 Tim 4:8) and speak of the reward that God gives Christians for faithful service. One motive Paul has for how he lives is his desire not to lose his reward; he is motivated to keep going and to run well, right to the end.
Self-discipline means ‘giving up the good and the better for the best.’ Athletes often have to sacrifice a great deal in their quest to be the best. Though we are not in a competitive race in the same way (all of us can run and get a reward; there is not just one winner in this race of life!), Paul urges us to refuse to allow our bodies to dictate what spiritual progress we are going to make. Rom 8:13 reminds us ‘For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.’ The technical term for this is ‘mortification’, which has, in the past, been used to promote bodily self-harm or extreme asceticism, neither of which is what Paul actually means. Nonetheless, there can be no doubt that we are to wage a ruthless war on the self-life if we are going to see spiritual growth. We can’t afford to indulge the sinful nature (Gal 5:15-16). Self-control is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:23) and we have to learn to be self-disciplined every day of the year, not just at the start of it, if we are to ensure we finish the race well. As always, we can’t conveniently divide our lives into ‘physical’ and ‘spiritual.’ Self-discipline, rather than gluttony, indolence, gossip and prayerlessness, is required all year round. It will have an impact on our physical bodies (a more guaranteed result than many of the other methods we may invest in) and will also reap spiritual rewards.
